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FOXBORO, Mass. — Patriots left tackle Matt Light seems to be perfectly happy with gradually getting himself back onto the field while he continues to recover from offseason shoulder surgery.

Light, who made his practice debut Saturday, has been through the process before, and he doesn't want to overexert himself and risk another injury at this point in the calendar.

"This process was one that was the right way to do it," Light said. "I've had shoulders in the past, and the protocol is kind of the same every time. You want to feel how it goes. You want to get back after it. You want to do some drills. When you're hitting a live body, it's a whole lot different than hitting a bag, so it's better to kind of break it in easy than to blow something up on day one. We've got a little bit of time here. Hopefully, sooner than later I can go out there and do the full deal."

Light didn't participate in any live drills Saturday, and he spent the session watching from the side after the Patriots activated him from the physically-unable-to-perform list. Still, it's a step in the right direction, and it appears to be a sign that he'll be ready in time for the regular-season opener Sept. 12 in Miami, if not earlier.

"Just trying to make sure that I can go out there and get as much done without actually going through a lot of the physical end of it," Light said. "Unfortunately, I can't just jump right back into it given what surgery I had in the offseason, so right now, a lot of it's mental, trying to keep the physical side of it going to what extent I can, hopefully be out there going full tilt sooner than later."